92% of global employees performance at risk due to poor Business English skills

GlobalEnglish Corporation, the leading provider of on-demand development and support for Business English communication, announced today survey results showing a progressive rise globally in the importance of Business English skills for job performance. Over the past three years, the necessity to use English on a regular basis on-the-job has grown 6-7% across all markets worldwide. 

Out of 26,000 surveyed multinational employees, 92% stated English is required or important for their job and 93% report English is required or important to receive a promotion. Yet only 7% felt their current proficiency level is sufficient. 

"55% of global enterprise employees indicated through this survey that they must use English daily to communicate internally and across international borders -- they use English to interact with project teams, suppliers and customers regardless of geographic location," says Tom Kahl, Executive Vice President and member of the Office of the CEO. "Considering that the majority of conversations in English are now occurring between two non-native English speakers, international companies who are not building Business English proficiency are decreasing their ability to operate as a high performance organization." 

Indeed the World Trade Organization estimates that by the end of 2011, 70% of the Global 1000 workforce will be non-native English speakers making Business English an increasingly critical job skill. According to a communication ROI study conducted by Towers Watson, companies that are highly-effective communicators had a 47% higher total return to shareholders over a 5 year period. 

The survey included participants from more than 150 countries spanning all global markets. The emerging markets of China, Brazil and Mexico represented the largest section of survey respondents. The demand for qualified employees in these markets is rising dramatically but candidates are significantly lacking the Business English skills necessary to work for multinational corporations. 

"In order to establish what we call Enterprise Fluency -- the operational efficiency created by effective communication -- the world's leading global organizations are making Business English communication tools a strategic imperative and available to employees across the entire enterprise," says Kahl. "Effective communication starts with a common language -- and the language of global business is undeniably English." 

For a complete copy of the Globalization of English survey findings visit: Globalization accelerates need for Business English Communication Skills.